Ten years ago, I was sitting in the Worldport Terminal at JFK, on my way home. \u00c2\u00a0I’d just picked up some Burger King french fries, waiting for a connecting flight back to DCA, while I watched the news. \u00c2\u00a0And it was there that I heard the result of Bush v. Gore. \u00c2\u00a0I can still tell you exactly where I was sitting. \u00c2\u00a0And then I saw the opinion read out on the television. \u00c2\u00a0And I was shocked.<\/p>\n
Stupified. \u00c2\u00a0Confounded. \u00c2\u00a0Stunned.<\/p>\n
The five justices in the majority helped complete my legal education in a way that I – at the time – truly didn’t think was possible.<\/p>\n
The idealism of youth, I suppose. \u00c2\u00a0Or something like that.<\/p>\n
To review, the majority applied a principle that they’d never cared about in a way that they’d never done before to a specific set of circumstances they said should never be considered in the future.<\/p>\n
~<\/p>\n
I have very little interest in talking about Bush v. Gore. \u00c2\u00a0There’s nothing to say about it, from a legal standpoint. \u00c2\u00a0Sure, it’s a little useful as a basic honesty test, but those that defend it almost always reveal themselves as charlatans well before you ever get to the case itself. \u00c2\u00a0But I do hope that it’s taken as a lesson by new generations.<\/p>\n